Banjo Adegbohun -
There are people who enter your life not simply to advise, but to illuminate. Mrs Yinka Ogunde was one such person.
My first coaching session with her was, in the truest sense, a turning point. She did not hand me a map. She asked the kind of questions that made me discover I had always carried one. In that single session, clarity came, and with it, a sense of direction that has shaped the journey I now walk.
She was not merely a coach. She was a mentor in the deepest meaning of that word, someone who invested not just in your next step, but in who you were becoming. Her passion for positive change in educators was not performative. It was principled, patient, and persistent. She understood that when a teacher is transformed, the effects ripple far beyond any classroom.
Her commitment to the education space in Nigeria was a quiet act of faith. She believed that the people shaping the minds of the next generation deserved to be poured into as well. And she did the pouring, generously and with great care.
Mrs Yinka Ogunde was, by every measure, extraordinary. Not because of grand gestures, but because of the quality of her presence, the depth of her listening, and the sincerity with which she served.
She leaves behind more than memories. She leaves behind changed lives, sharper minds, and a standard of care that those of us who knew her will carry forward.
Rest well, ma.